What is Brand Strategy? A Practical Guide for Growing Companies
The TLDR- Understanding what brand strategy is, what it includes, why it matters, and when a business needs it.
Most business owners don’t wake up thinking, “You know, today would be a great day to focus on our brand strategy.” If you’re not generally attuned to the importance of having a solid brand strategy, it often becomes a topic of concern when things go wrong. The company has grown, the messaging is all over the place, the website no longer fits the brand, the accrual of AI assets and copy that were easy to produce all feel unrelated, or perhaps, people are describing the company in very different ways. All of these problems point to a lack of brand strategy, and they are signs that your company should look into its strategy and decision-making.
So, what is brand strategy?
Brand strategy is the work of deciding what the company needs to stand for, who it needs to matter to, and how those decisions should guide what the company says, does, and builds.
What brand strategy changes.
A good brand strategy affects nearly every part of the business. It helps guide business decisions, shapes the brand voice, keeps messaging consistent and focused on the right people, and gives visual design a clear direction across all touchpoints. It can also influence how the company website is structured, give sales and marketing teams a clear story to tell, and create stronger internal alignment across teams.
And that’s the real value of brand strategy. It’s not just about how the company presents itself to clients and customers; it also provides a system for making better decisions about what the company says, does, and builds.
What’s usually included in brand strategy?
There are several components that make up a brand strategy. Each one helps to answer specific questions while helping to bring problems to the surface:
| Brand Strategy Component | What It Helps Answer |
|---|---|
| Audience | Who are we trying to matter to most? Who are our people? |
| Positioning | What do we want to be known for? What space are we trying to own? |
| Differentiation | Why should someone choose us? Why are we the best fit for our people? |
| Value Proposition | What meaningful value do we provide? |
| Brand Promise | What can our people consistently expect from us? What are we really promising? |
| Messaging | What do people need to understand to build interest? What should we say clearly and repeatedly? |
| Brand Voice | How should we sound? What kind of voice will resonate with our people? |
| Brand Personality | What qualities should shine through? Who is this (brand) person? |
| Competitive Context | Who are we compared to? Where do we sit in relation to other brands in people’s minds? |
| Strategic Priorities | What guides future decisions? When do we say yes to something, and when do we pass on opportunities that aren’t right for us? |
Brand strategy, branding, and brand identity are not the same thing.
Brand strategy is the set of decisions that defines what the company should stand for, who it should matter to, and how those decisions will guide the brand moving forward.
Brand identity is the visual and verbal system that voices that brand strategy-it includes things like logo, color palettes, typography, image and illustration styles, and voice.
Branding is the application of strategy and identity. Both shape how the company is experienced and perceived over time.
In other words, strategy sets the direction, identity expresses that direction, and branding carries that direction out to the world.
How do I know I have a strategy problem?
Brand strategy problems show up in many different ways. Most often, though, there is an underlying alignment issue. Here are a few that we commonly come across with the clients we work with:
Your company has changed over time, but your brand has not.
Like most companies, you’ve grown, added services, worked to enter new markets, or possibly even changed direction. The way you present your company, however, has not really changed in the past several years-or ever.
At some point, the brand stops representing the business you’ve become—red light.
People inside the company describe the business differently.
This is some easy low-hanging fruit you can uncover, guerrilla-style. Talk to people across the company; ask them what the company does, what its goals are, who they think the customer base is, and why people choose it.
If you get widely different answers, there’s a good chance there is an alignment issue.
You’re not looking for everyone to recite the same script, but the fundamental answers should all lead to the same place. If they don’t, there is an issue.
You have trouble explaining why someone should hire you.
If your message sounds similar to your competitors or leans heavily on generic terms like service, quality, expertise, or experience, the problem might be how you’re positioned.
Each of those is telling, but hardly sets you apart from your competition. They’re all using the same buzzwords.
Brand strategy problems show up in many different ways. Most often, though, there is an underlying alignment issue.
You are preparing for a rebrand or a major website redesign.
You may feel a visual refresh or a new website is the solution to bring everything back into alignment. Sometimes it is.
But if the underlying issue stems from unclear positioning, messaging, or audience understanding, new visuals and website copy won’t eliminate it. You’ll still have the same uncertainty and clarity issues, but in a newer package.
Major business changes are forcing new decisions.
Leadership changes, key people move on, mergers, acquisitions, or new product lines can create gaps in what the business was and what it is becoming.
A few gaps are normal, but stack enough of them together, and you end up with a fairly large hole in your brand.
Brand strategy works to close the gaps by providing a shared understanding of where the organization is going and the decisions that will get you there.
Sometimes you don’t need strategy.
We try to be realists. Sometimes things are working, and strategy is not the issue. If that’s the case, there’s no reason to manufacture a strategy project. It’s time to look under some different rocks and figure out what is actually getting in the way.
Deep strategy work is expensive and carries its own risks when it’s not needed. You can spend a lot of time reconsidering decisions that were already sound, create uncertainty where it did not exist before, or even position a brand away from something that is currently working.
Good strategy solves a real problem. If the problem is somewhere else, then let’s look for it there.
What the strategy process should accomplish.
A good strategy should eliminate the important questions that are hanging out there. It should provide real solutions, not just observations or presentations of existing problems. The goal is to give the company clear direction and make the work that follows easier to do well.
By the end of a solid strategy process, you should have a stronger answer to questions like:
- Who are we really trying to reach?
- What do we want to be known for?
- What makes us meaningfully different?
- What value do we provide that matters to the people we want to reach?
- What should we be saying clearly and consistently?
- What should our brand feel and sound like?
- What should guide design and marketing decisions?
- What kinds of opportunities fit the brand, and which ones do not?
- Where do we need to change, and where should we stop changing what is already working?
Strategy is not only about deciding what to do. It’s also about creating clarity so you know what not to do.
Strategy should reduce unnecessary confusion, make future decisions easier, and provide different people within the organization with a basis for moving in the same direction.
The strategy process should also expose where the real problems are. Sometimes a messaging issue is a positioning issue, and strategy should illuminate that. Just because we assume there is a brand problem in one area does not mean it is something different once it is viewed through the lens of strategy.
By the end of the process, you should have an organized series of recommendations that can be acted upon. The strategy sessions should also give the organization a practical framework that guides them through the process of brand messaging, identity, website decisions, marketing, sales communications, and other choices.
What comes out of the brand strategy process?
There should be a series of tangible objects that emerge from the strategy process. The format will depend on the company, the budget, and the depth of the problem(s) being solved, but you should walk away with a clear hit list of decisions that were made.
That might include:
A clear definition of your ICP (ideal customer profile) or audience;
positioning;
key differentiators;
a value proposition;
clear brand promise;
messaging priorities (messaging guide, social media, one-liner, sales letters);
voice and personality guides;
competitive context;
strategic priorities;
and principles that can guide design, marketing, sales, and future brand decisions
In some cases, the strategy may also include exploring messaging frameworks, audience profiles, a brand narrative, and/or strategy recommendations across touchpoints.
What happens once strategy is finished?
Once the brand strategy has been developed, it’s time to start applying it to the areas where people actually experience the brand.
That might mean developing or refining things like the visual identity, website copy, website structure, key messaging, social media templates, development guidelines, and brand documents that help an internal team use the brand consistently. It’s also an opportunity to ensure that all visual and written touchpoints feel like they come from a coherent system.
Ultimately, the strategy becomes the main reference point the team refers back to when asking, “Does this fit who we are, who we’re trying to reach, and where we’re trying to go?”
Strategy is not something we do and then shove to the back of a drawer. It’s a living process and should evolve along with the company.
How can you tell if the brand strategy is any good?
As mentioned earlier, strategy is about illuminating issues and providing actionable solutions to them. So, a good strategy answers questions and makes decisions easier.
It should give a shared understanding of the company to everyone who works there. Teams should know who they are trying to reach, what the company stands for, and how it should show up in the wild. Most importantly, it should be a reference that is addressed when real decisions need to be made.
If people still need to make important decisions by recreating the wheel each time, the strategy is not doing its job. Each team member is also responsible for understanding the strategy to the extent it affects their job. If there is one person in the room who everyone goes to for understanding the strategy, the strategy is not being used to the best of its ability.
Common brand strategy mistakes
There are a lot of ways for brand strategy to go wrong, but here are a few areas we commonly see:
Starting with visuals.
If the conversations start with a focus on logos, colors, and type, you may be trying to solve things in the wrong order. Visual treatments are adjusted as the result of strategy; they are not strategy in themselves. Visual identity is important, but it should respond to strategic questions rather than create them.
Copying the category.
We’ve had clients say to us, “We want our website to read and sound like // insert brand name.” Competitor research is valuable until it becomes imitation. If everyone looks the same in the space, there is no way to tell your company apart from others, which hurts your brand.
Trying to appeal to everyone.
A brand built for everyone often ends up meaningful to no one. Strategy is about making choices—deciding who matters most, what you want to be known for, and how you will stand apart.
Copying another company’s visual style or language is a bit like grabbing the top of an iceberg and expecting it to float on its own. What you see above the surface is only a small part of the whole thing. The logo, colors, typography, messaging, and other visible elements are supported by a much larger underlying strategy.
That hidden part—the positioning, audience, decisions, and internal alignment—is what keeps it afloat. Copy only what you can see, and you miss most what makes it great.
Calling generic strengths differentiators.
Calling things like customer service, years in business, quality, integrity, and innovation are all good qualities to have, but they are hardly enough to separate you from your competition. If everyone can cite these same differentiators in their business, are they really differentiators?
A real-world example.
Gridwork AE
When Livermore Architecture & Engineering approached Shop about rebranding, the project was about more than creating a new logo. The firm needed a name and identity that better reflected who they were, the work they did, and where they wanted to go. We started with brand strategy, using the StoryBrand framework to clarify their positioning, audience, and messaging before exploring names or visual concepts. That work led to Gridwork AE, a new name supported by a cohesive visual identity, messaging system, and updated brand materials. By starting with strategy rather than design, we helped the firm build a brand grounded in its values, aligned with its business goals, and positioned for the future.
How long does brand strategy take?
The length of a brand strategy project varies based on the depth of work and the complexity of the organization. A focused engagement for a smaller company might take just a few short weeks. A larger organization with stakeholders, multiple audiences, services, and businesses can take considerably longer.
The timeline is affected by the depth of research, the number of people involved, how quickly decisions can be made, and whether the work includes additional components such as naming, brand messaging, or brand architecture.
How much does brand strategy cost?
Brand strategy projects often fall in the $4,000–$8,000 range for small-to midsize organizations, depending on the complexity of the business, the number of stakeholders, the research involved, and the extent of messaging or positioning work included. Larger or more complex engagements can cost more.
Brand strategy FAQs
What is brand strategy?
Brand strategy is the work of deciding what the company needs to stand for, who it needs to matter to, and how those decisions should guide what the company says, does, and builds.
How is brand strategy different than branding?
Brand strategy addresses questions and needs that affect the company as a whole. Branding is the application of those decisions through visuals, messaging, experiences, and touchpoints that help shape the public’s perception of the company.
How is brand strategy different from brand identity?
Brand strategy addresses questions and needs that affect the company as a whole, while brand identity is the visual and verbal system that shapes the company’s perception. Identity includes touchpoints such as logo, colors, type, social media posts, website pages, imagery, and voice.
Who should be involved in the brand strategy process?
Each project is different, but key stakeholders, leadership, marketing managers, and sales are all candidates for being involved in the process.
The ultimate goal is clearer decisions.
In the end, all of this comes down to recognizing there is an alignment problem in the business, identifying the questions that actually matter, and developing actionable answers.
Good strategy makes decision-making easier. It should work to align internal teams to the company’s priorities, unify brand messaging and visual elements so a clear story is told to all those who are interested.
When strategy works, people become more efficient when making decisions. They have more confidence in the direction of the company, and the company message becomes clear-all signal, no noise.
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by Erin Lynch // Brand Strategy, Branding, Design
